On an unusually warm September day in 2012, a 29-year-old New York resident visiting a friend in Clearwater walked into a local Massage Envy expecting a relaxing session with a knowledgeable massage therapist. She was allegedly sexually assaulted instead.
The woman, identified as “Jane Doe” in court records, contacted Clearwater police to report the therapist penetrated her vagina with his fingers several times, but the state attorney’s office never filed charges. Massage Envy fired the therapist, Ronald Bruinius, but did not report him to police or the Florida Department of Health, which can revoke a massage therapist’s license.
Two months later, Bruinius opened his own practice in Largo, Ronnie’s Body Work Massage, and moonlighted at another Largo spa. He allegedly assaulted two more women the next year before police arrested him on two counts of sexual battery. (He now sits in Suwannee Correctional Institution.)
Massage Envy and its franchisee settled two lawsuits related to the assaults in 2015 and 2016. But litigation against the Arizona-based company continued to pile up.
On Monday, Katie J.M. Baker of Buzzfeed News exposed long-running problems with Massage Envy therapists groping and assaulting women, then simply moving on to other practices.
And, of course, there are Florida connections to the story. Quite a few, in fact.
Buzzfeed reported on two Florida incidents — a woman groped at a Winter Park franchise and another licked by her masseuse in South Florida — but court records from the state’s largest counties show dozens of incidents at franchises ranging from North Florida to Miami.
* In Aventura, a Message Envy therapist, David Gonzalez, allegedly pulled a woman’s underwear to the side, groped her and tried to kiss her, according to an August complaint filed in Miami-Dade County.
* At a Massage Envy on Fleming Island, therapist Kevin Welch allegedly held a woman down on the massage table and groped her, according to a complaint filed in June.
* Two massage therapists face charges for groping incidents at Massage Envy locations in Orlando. One of the men, Frederick Dost, left an Orlando franchise after the allegations and found work with a spa in Siesta Key where he rubbed his genitals on a client, according to a lawsuit filed in Sarasota last year.
The allegations may surprise many of the 1.65 million people who hold memberships to their local Massage Envy, but the incidents come as no surprise to the attorneys who have helped women bring lawsuits against the country’s largest employer of massage therapists.
“They have set up a system to where they shield themselves from any legal ramifications to protect their brand,” says attorney Joseph Alvarez, referring to contracts signed by the franchisees that release the corporate office from liability.
Alvarez, who represented “Jane Doe” in the 2012 case, points to Massage Envy’s own orientation handbook, which states only four percent of victims actually report the abuse.
“What is the other 96 percent?” he asks from his office at the Matassini Law Firm in Tampa. “What does that number equate to?”
While Alvarez acknowledges there is no way to completely stop such behavior, he says there are policies and procedures that Massage Envy, or any such business, could implement to minimize incidents.
Signs in the lobby outlining how to report abuse? A safe button inside the room?
“There are things they could be and should be doing and they are not doing it,” he says. “They are sweeping someone’s dignity under the rug for dollars.”
In an email to CL, a Massage Envy spokesperson called the incidents “heartbreaking,” while noting the Buzzfeed article references 180 reports out “125 million massages spanning 15-plus years.”
“But, we believe that even ONE incident is too many, so we are constantly listening, learning, and evaluating how we can continue to strengthen our policies with respect to handling of these issues,” the statement reads.
For its part, the Florida Department of Health says the agency takes these claims seriously.
“All complaints received by the department are treated equally and reviewed thoroughly,” says spokesman Brad Dalton. “Once the complaint is received, it is assigned to an investigator for review. The department takes every complaint seriously and moves toward a swift resolution.”
The agency can also inform the state’s Surgeon General if there’s an immediate danger to public health and immediately suspend licenses, he added.
Some massage therapists are worried about the repercussions arising from the scandal. A handful of male therapists contacted by CL did not want to go on record, citing the current climate or worried a Google search with their name in a story about sexual assault could be incorrectly interpreted.
But all expressed hope people will continue to seek out massages despite a few bad apples.
“A lot of people really need massage therapy,” says Garrett, a massage therapist licensed in Florida and Connecticut. (He agreed to talk if CL omitted his last name.)
“They are in chronic pain, they’ve had accidents, they’re dealing with diseases like M.S. and [massage therapy] is so beneficial,” he says. “Unfortunately, there is an ugly side to everything. There are predators out there on both sides of the table.”
Garrett says he worked at a Massage Envy three years ago, fresh out of school. He didn’t encounter any problems at his branch and said the company had a zero-tolerance policy.
“If anyone complains, you’re out,” he said.
Stories about sexual assaults are just one of the “hurdles” experienced by male therapists, Garrett says, so he tries to outline his methodology before a client ever undresses.
“I tell them, ‘Don’t ever be afraid to stop me if you have an issue or there’s something you don’t like,’” he says, adding building a rapport with repeat clients ensures everyone involved feels comfortable.
“It can be an awkward thing and I’ve been there,” he says of massage. “I know what it’s like to be on the table… that’s a lot of control for a therapist to have.”
This article appears in Nov 23-30, 2017.